"Ding!"
The elevator doors opened on the 56th floor.
Two blonde women led the way, and Chu He followed them into a spacious reception room.
The floor was covered with a handwoven wool carpet, and two luxurious leather sofas faced each other.
A middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties sat on one of them.
He was bald, with a hooked nose and deep-set eyes—the picture of a typical Englishman.
"Hello, Mr. Chu He. Please, call me Mars." Mars smiled politely, his manner impeccable.
"Are you British?" Chu He asked curiously as he sat down on the opposite sofa.
"Mr. Chu He, Britain no longer exists. I'm from the European Union," Mars replied solemnly.
"Now isn't the time for small talk. Let's deal with your goods first."
During the Great Nirvana Era, the Beast Tide of countless sea monsters had wiped out all the island nations around the world.
Thanks to its economic strength in the early twenty-first century, Britain had begun relocating its people early and had managed to preserve a relatively intact government.
However, it had since become part of the European Union.
Four of the nine major family conglomerates in the HR Alliance were of British origin.
Hearing this, Chu He said no more.
"Clatter!"
He opened his backpack and dumped all the monster materials onto the table between them.
Mars had been a little annoyed by Chu He's bluntness, but the moment he saw the materials, he couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
Among them, several pale golden scales stood out.
Faint bloodstains dotted their surface.
"Mountain Giant Ape!" Mars exclaimed, jumping to his feet and leaning over the table to get a closer look.
Once standing, he noticed the two blonde women still beside him. With a broad wave of his hand, he said, "You two, step outside."
The two blonde women worked at the HR Alliance headquarters, so they knew all too well how valuable high-level monsters were.
At the name "Mountain Giant Ape," their blue-green eyes widened in shock as they looked at Chu He.
But at Mars's gesture, they quickly composed themselves and bowed. "Yes, sir."
Leaning over the table, Supervisor Mars exclaimed again and again:
"Chest scales from a Mountain Giant Ape—and an Advanced Lord Level one!"
When he'd made the appointment, Chu He had only said that he had a batch of materials worth 20 billion Huaxia Currency to sell. He hadn't given any details.
Now that Mars saw the actual goods were body parts from an Advanced Lord-level Mountain Giant Ape, he couldn't help exclaiming.
After all, ape-like monsters were already highly intelligent.
And a Mountain Giant Ape at the Advanced Lord Level wouldn't fight to the death like other monsters of the same rank if it judged that it was outmatched.
Killing one was far more difficult than killing an ordinary monster at the Advanced Lord Level!
Most Advanced War Gods couldn't manage it.
"Please wait a moment, Mr. Chu He. I'll process these right away." Mars took an instrument from behind him and immediately began testing the materials.
As the tests progressed, his expression grew more and more astonished.
He hadn't imagined there would be materials from two Lord-level monsters among them!
One was an Advanced Lord-level Mountain Giant Ape, and the other was a Black Scale Giant Python.
While Mars tested the monster materials, Chu He added, "Oh, and please assess my combat record and update my Warrior rating too."
The materials Chu He had brought were enough to certify him as an Advanced War God.
"No problem." Mars nodded repeatedly, though he was inwardly stunned.
To update Chu He's Warrior rating, Mars naturally had to check his age.
"An eighteen-year-old Advanced War God! That's not something you can achieve just by having a powerful background. He must have exceptional talent, too!"
"Mr. Chu He." Mars became even more respectful. "The Mountain Giant Ape's materials are worth 24 billion Huaxia Currency, and the Black Scale Giant Python's are worth 1.8 billion."
"Mr. Chu He, if you sell all these materials, I can authorize a payment of 26 billion Huaxia Currency."
"26 billion?" Chu He repeated the figure and nodded slightly.
That was about the same as the value of the Frost Shadow Deer he'd sold previously.
But there had been a lot of Frost Shadow Deer, and the Primary Lord-level Frost Shadow Deer alone was worth about as much as an Intermediate Lord. It was far more valuable than the Black Scale Giant Python.
All things considered, the total values were indeed quite close.
Mars sat in front of his laptop and worked for a while. Then he turned to Chu He, bowing slightly as he spoke:
"Mr. Chu He, the 26 billion Huaxia Currency has been transferred to your personal Warrior account, and your Warrior rating has been updated to Advanced War God."
Chu He's information was still displayed on the computer screen. His rank was now listed as Advanced War God.
Just then, a notification appeared below it—
"War God Palace application: under review..."
"By the way, I'm not sure if you know this, but once your rating reaches War God, you're automatically inducted into the War God Palace without needing to apply. You also receive a Consciousness Sensor."
"However, the War God Palace will send someone to verify your strength, Mr. Chu He. Don't worry; someone from the War God Palace will be here today to—"
As he spoke, Mars glanced at the computer screen.
"Beep!"
A notification abruptly popped up on the laptop screen.
[War God Palace assessment passed!]
"Huh?"
Mars abruptly stopped explaining.
He realized that his explanation had probably made him look like a fool.
An eighteen-year-old Advanced War God obviously had a powerful background. How could he not know about the War God Palace?
And now, no one had even come to assess him. He'd passed automatically.
What kind of background and strength did that take?
Mars knew that an exemption from the assessment and automatic approval like this required the War God Palace Council's recognition.
Recognition from the War God Palace Council!
Every council member in the War God Palace's highest council was a Beyond War God!
At the thought, Mars's smile grew even more ingratiating. He hurried out to have someone bring in a pot of hot tea, then poured a cup himself.
"Mr. Chu He, please have some tea."
"There's no need to rush. This is the HR Alliance headquarters, and there are War God Palace staff in the building. Someone will bring everything over soon."
"Mm." Chu He wasn't in a hurry. He picked up the teacup and took a small sip.
Soon—only a few minutes later—the reception room door opened, and three men in silver uniforms walked in.
One of them, a bald, burly man wearing sunglasses, carried a metal case. He addressed Chu He respectfully:
"War God Chu He, welcome to the War God Palace. You'll receive a Consciousness Induction Helmet free of charge."
Chu He naturally knew about the Consciousness Induction Helmet.
Like the Extreme Martial Arts Gym's Trial Tower, it was part of a Virtual Space belonging exclusively to Hong.
After Hong fell into a deep sleep because of the Golden Horned Beast, the War God Palace had become unusable.
However, Chu He had never been to the Extreme Martial Arts Gym's War God Training Camp, so he didn't know whether its Trial Tower and the War God Palace belonged to the same Virtual Space.
But when he thought about it, he figured they probably did.
How could there be two Virtual Spaces on Earth?
Of course, that was only Chu He's guess. For now, he just needed to get the item.
"Thank you." Chu He accepted it with a smile.
When he opened the metal case, he immediately saw the deep-blue helmet inside.
With the item in hand, he could finally head home in peace.
"Goodbye, everyone." Chu He casually put the metal case into his backpack and strode out.
Before you continue